A third of households in the UK live in poorly insulated homes and cannot afford an acceptable standard of living.
The UK’s cold homes crisis is affecting 9.6 million households, according to a report produced by the Marmot Institute of Health Equity (IHE) at University College London on behalf of Friends of the Earth.
The report says these households have incomes below the minimum level at which an acceptable standard of living is affordable, meaning that finding money to pay for decent housing, enough heating and basic essentials will be out of reach for most.
The failure to upgrade the UK’s energy inefficient housing, years of wage stagnation, ‘exorbitant’ living costs and unaffordable housing have ‘left the hope of a warm and healthy home far out of grasp for too many’, the IHE and Friends of the Earth said.
Professor Sir Michael Marmot said: ‘That there are millions, in a rich country like ours, living in cold homes is a national disgrace.’
The head of science, research and policy at Friends of the Earth, Mike Childs, said: ‘This hard-hitting report should spur all political parties into action as we head towards the general election – both the Conservatives and Labour have gone backwards over recent months on this critical issue.
‘Given the sheer scale of the problem, we need to see transformative levels of investment and action, to stem the huge social and economic costs of cold homes and ensure our internationally agreed climate targets are met.’
